Simpsons The Movie

Yellow is the new Black

It's not that often that we get excited about a film in which the cast wear the same clothes (like EXACTLY the same clothes) they've been wearing for the last 20 years, but in the case of the Simpsons Movie, we?ll make an exception.

Invited to watch exactly ten minutes of the long-anticipated animated special, the atmosphere in Leicester Square was heart-poundingly manic - security was at a premium to stop any premature leakage of the footage onto the net and anything even vaguely electronic was confiscated to prevent bootlegging (I hid my mobile phone in my bra to avoid the queue to collect it afterwards, but I was thwarted when an over-eager security guard found my crappy old Ipod Mini and swiped it from me with a flourish. Doh indeed.) But as a life-long Simpsons obsessive, I fitted in well with the crazed hoards of nerdish superfans, in fact I'm really only an X chromosome and some Duwop tinted foundation away from being the sort of person who 'dresses up' at comic book conventions. Ugh. Actually, I've always secretly hankered for Lisa Simpson's 'look' - Agyness Deyn blonde spikes and red A-line strapless dress with distressed hem teamed with 50s pearls, lovely.

Anyway, the clandestine exclusivity of the event just made it more thrilling, who doesn?t like to think they?re at one of the most exclusive shindigs in London, if not the world? (look at Charley on last night?s BB, the poor lass has fallen from the sort of girl who can lig her way into the VIP room at Bijou to shamelessly hammering on a plexiglass window unable to get in to a too-brightly lit foam-and-fetish party Borehamwood. Couldn't happen to a nicer person. I digress.) We were the very first 'proper' cinema audience to ever see this clip, and the chance to ask questions of an extremely tired Matt Groening and Al Jean (Simpson's creator and writer/producer respectively) was something of a treat, though you could tell Matt was going to scream if one more person asked 'is it true Homer and Marge are named after your mum and dad??' (there was a wet squelch as 1000 nerds all rolled their eyes collectively at that one, we're a mean bunch when you've only got twenty minutes to bombard your heroes with questions.)

So what of the film? Well it's hard to tell in ten minutes if it can live up to the glory years of the TV show, but there's some intriguing cameos, some very startling full frontal nudity you wouldn't see on the telly, and jokes that made me laugh out loud, which is kinda what you'd hope for from the Simpsons. As the sort of film-geek who hates spoilers, I'll reveal no more about it, but it's funny. I raced to collect my ipod while the more er, emphatic fans queued to get their picture taken with some big creepy foam versions of America's favourite family. 'Tsk how lame!' I thought, as I clutched my free 'Stress Donut' and Homer-branded Swatch watch all the way home.